Capital Eye Opener: Tuesday, October 13

Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:

HEALTH INSURERS RELEASE NEW REPORT: On Sunday, a new study commissioned the health insurance industry group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) claimed that the health reform legislation authored by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) “will increase premiums above what they would increase under the current system.” The report is outlined here in a memo by the health insurance industry’s top lobbyist, Karen Ignagni. During the first six months of 2009, AHIP spent $3.9 million on federal lobbying. The Senate Finance Committee, which is chaired by Baucus, is set to vote today on its version of health insurance reform legislation. Several Democratic lawmakers and Democratic-leaning groups have criticized the report — including the White House, which called the report “self-serving.” On the other side of the aisle, the office of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has cautioned conservatives to examine their campaign coffers for health insurance money before jumping on this report. A spokesman for Issa told Talking Points Memo that the GOP must “strike the right balance” between the report showing premiums would rise and “trying to avoid the perception they are doing the insurance industry’s bidding.” Issa’s spokesman continued, “Any Republican that uses the report should double-check to see how much money they’ve received from the industry as that’ll be a very easy rebuttal for Dems to hit back.”

CALLS MADE FOR GLBT EQUALITY: Tens of thousands of protesters marched from the White House to the Capitol on Sunday in support of equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender Americans. Specific legislative targets include the repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in the military that prohibits GLBT individuals from serving openly, bestowing benefits to same-sex couples who work for the federal government and the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts the federal government’s definition of marriage to the legal union of strictly a man and a woman and permits states to ignore same-sex marriages performed in other states. The night before, President Barack Obama spoke to 3,000 attendees at the annual fundraising dinner of the gay rights organization Human Rights Campaign. During the 2008 election cycle, HRC’s political action committee donated $1.2 million to mostly Democratic federal candidates, and during the first half of this year, the group spent $690,000 on federal lobbying. At the black-tie dinner, Obama said, “We have made progress, and we will make more.” He promised to end “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” to end workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians and to ensure that “committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country.” Some gay rights activists faulted Obama for not providing specific steps on how he would take action on these issues. Shortly after Obama’s Saturday speech, the administration’s highest ranking GLBT official told the Advocate that the White House was in talks with several senators, including Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, about introducing a bill to repeal the measure.POLS SEE PRESSURE AS Q3 REPORTS EMERGE: The third quarter financial reports are due to the Federal Election Commission on Thursday, and some figures are already percolating through the media. For instance, the two Democratic women vying to oust controversial Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) each have reported healthy fundraising hauls. Talking Points Memo reported that State Senator Tarryl Clark raised about $308,000 in just nine weeks to end the quarter with roughly $270,000 in cash on hand, and former University of Minnesota regent Maureen Reed (who was also the 2006 Independence Party nominee for lieutenant governor) raised about $130,000 during the third quarter to emerge with about $300,000 in cash on hand. Bachmann had nearly $400,000 in cash on hand at the end of the second quarter and has not yet announced her third-quarter figures. Another incumbent to potentially be facing pressure: embattled House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.). TheHill reported that Rangel’s former campaign director Vince Morgan announced on Monday that he would challenge Rangel, who is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee and was named one of the most corrupt lawmakers earlier this year by watchdog group Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

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